15 Febr 1957 | YF-104A | 55-2958 | Lockheed | USAF | written off | pilot killed |
The aircraft was bailed to Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (LAC) at time of the crash. The aircraft pitched up and crashed during flare on landing at Palmdale AF Plant 42, California on February 15, 1957 at 1321 PST. Joseph “Joe” Watson Ozier, a civilian engineering test pilot, was on a local test flight with empty tip tanks testing landings with land flaps but without the use of BLC (Boundary Layer Control). On final for the full stop landing the airspeed bled off to a minimum of 143 knots. The aircraft rolled uncontrolled to a right bank angle of 56° bank before dragging the right tip tank. The aircraft struck the ground and exploded. The pilot was thrown out of the cockpit, strapped in his seat, about 25 yards clear. He died later that night from the internal injuries and burns caused by the impact, The aircraft was written off. Joe’s (Ozier's) F-104 had left the runway, plowed through the wild grass and muddy ridges and ended up on its right side, the left wing and landing gear sticking out grotesquely. The tower operator said it seemed like a normal approach but over the threshold of the runway, the nose of the 104 pitched up, staggered, rolled right hitting the wing and nose about twenty five yards from the edge of the runway and exploded. It didn’t slide very far – just dug in. It was the impact that threw Joe and the ejection seat through the canopy. |
2 April 1957 | F-104A | 56-731 | Lockheed | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
25 April 1957 | YF-104A | 55-2955 | Lockheed | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
1 May 1957 | YF-104A | 55-2962 | Lockheed | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
2 May 1957 | YF-104A | 55-2967 | AFFTC | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
It was written off after making a crashlanding at Bergstrom AFB after encountering a full hydraulic failure. Pilot Capt. Robert Francis Ronca was safe. Afterwards it became a monument at the USAF academy. The aircraft departed Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, at 0940 CST on an IFR (1000 on top) flight to Bergstrom AFB, Texas. Flight was uneventful until approximately 40 miles from Bergstrom. At that time Capt Ronca had an aileron nibble which seemed to move the stick laterally about an inch to either side of neutral and lasted approximately two minutes. Movement was rapid enough to prevent any actual roll since the movement dampened themselves out. He suspected that air in the system was the cause. The remainder of the flight was normal until the traffic pattern was entered. The lead aircraft (55-2968) made a normal landing. Capt Ronca was number two in the flight and accomplished the “break” in a normal manner at 2000 feet. On base leg at approximately 245K, speed brake switch was pushed in, gear handle lowered and a long turn to final approach was started. Immediately the nose started dropping and he found it rather difficult to raise as the stick felt like at was getting stiff. He checked the hydraulic gauge which was set on the #2 system and saw that the pressure on the system was 1800# (normal 3000#) and dropped quite rapidly. He switched the gauge to the #1 system and that read 1300# and was dropping at about the same rate. At this point he pulled the RAM Air Turbine and the pressure on the #1 system jumped up to 2500-2800#, fluctuated for a few seconds and started bleeding off. The #1 system at this time was still dropping and read about 1500#. Capt Ronca considered ejecting but with down-wards ejectionseat the aircraft was too low. He decided to get the aircraft as close to the ground as possible and hold it with power to assure he would make it to the runway on full hydraulic failure. At about one fourth mile from the end of the runway the aircraft was low and in a landing attitude. Number 1 system was then reading 800#. He crossed the fence with quite a bit of power at 180K. Over the runway he was settling slightly when he experienced complete control failure. The nose then slowly dropped till the aircraft contacted the runway. The aircraft landed wheels up. After the plane was down and settled, the drag chute was pulled and the engine was stopcocked just before the aircraft stopped sliding. Capt Ronca opened the canopy and deplaned. The aircraft mid end underside of its fuselage caught on fire due to friction as it slid down the runway, however the fire-trucks arrived within a minute and extinguished the flame. Capt Ronca was gladly unhurt. The IFS owns a copy of the official accident report. Aircraft was repaired to be used as instructional airframe, not flyworthy anymore. Currently it can be found preserved at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum. (www.pwam.org) |
3 May 1957 | YF-104A | 55-2968 | ARDC | USAF | incident | pilot ok |
Crashed on Eglin AFB during a runway accident but was repaired soon and operational again on the 6th of May 1958. |
27 May 1957 | YF-104A | 55-2970 | Lockheed | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
It crashed 12:20 hours PST at San Bernardino, 20 N Miles NW of Camp Irwin on Leach Gunnery Range, in California during an gun shooting test mission after encountering a compressor failure. Lockheed Engineering Test Pilot, Arthur Joseph Peterson tried several airstarts which were not successful. Then he ejected safely at 2500 feet. Aircraft took off from AF Plant 42, Lockheed, California, a flight which lasted 21 minutes before crash. After the accident the engine was shipped to Evandale for study. Results are unknown.Previous testflights have shown that gun debris (links and shell cases) from the T-17 E-3 gun when fired in flight from the F-104A strike the fuselage and ventral fin in a random manner from an area in line with the engine inlet air ducts aft. A fix to this problem consisting of installing an 8”x16”vertical steal deflector plate in front of the shell case and link ejection chutes had completed wind tunnel tests and was being flight tested. Tests were not complete but were not progressing satisfactorily as the fuselage and ventral fin continued to receive random strikes from the gun debris. The accident occurred during the fifth flight (fourth flight that the guns were fired) in a planned series of flights to test the deflector plate. The test aircraft was F-104A 55-2970 on LAC s/n 1016, on bailment to Lockheed Aircraft Corp (LAC) flown by Peterson, an LAC Engineering test pilot.Capt Carson (chase pilot) observed the aircraft, after Peterson ejected, continue straight ahead and crash in a level position, explode and burn briefly. He followed Peterson down to get his position then returned to Edwards AFB and accompanied the rescue helicopter back to the crash scene where Peterson was picked up and returned to Edwards AFB. Peterson was on the ground for 1:20 hours after landing.The IFS owns a copy of the official accident report. |
11 July 1957 | XF-104 | 53-7786 | AFFTC | USAF | written off | pilot ok |
12 Aug 1957 | F-104A | 56-730 | Lockheed | USAF | incident | pilot ok |
22 Aug 1957 | YF-104A | 55-2969 | ARDC | USAF | incident | pilot ok |
This day it encountered an accident, damaging the aircraft on Eglin AFB. It could be repaired soon, including a modification/upgrade to F-104A 1-LO standard. |
22 Aug 1957 | F-104A | 56-753 | AFOTC | USAF | written off | pilot killed |
14 Sept 1957 | QF-104A | 55-2968 | 3205 DS | USAF | written off | drone |
This QF-104A was lost in the Gulf of Mexico during its second unmanned flight, operated from Eglin AFB. It was likely due to a technical problem. It was not shot down. |
19 Nov 1957 | F-104A | 56-740 | 3241 TG AFOTC | USAF | incident | pilot ok |
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